The song I picked, “Harlem Streets” by Immortal Technique, discusses
the difficulties of living in the ghetto that is Harlem, New York. He talks about
how the government doesn’t help the people there so the people have no choice
but to live bad lives. He wants people to listen and realize the truth about how
bad it really is in the ghetto. This is
shown when he says, “And if you can't acknowledge the
reality of my words/You just another stupid mother f***** out on the curb.”
The singer, Immortal Technique, is from Harlem himself so this song is really
personal. He is almost begging people to listen and work together to do
something about the conditions in the ghetto. At one part in the song the
Immortal says, “making them deceitful, cannibalistic
and lethal.” He is talking about what the conditions in the ghetto are doing to
the people. He is exaggerating when he says that the people turn “cannibalistic”,
but it really catches peoples’ attention when you hear that. So, it was a very
effective use of the word. The lyrics are rhetorical. Immortal Technique is not
telling people to rise up and turn against one person or group. He is just
trying to educate people on what is going on in the ghetto of Harlem. I really
liked that he used “we” a lot instead of “them”.
He made the song personal by
including himself. I believe what these kinds of issues should come first over
wars in foreign countries. We need to help ourselves before we help others. How
can we possibly tell other countries how to run their people and country when
we neglect our people like the ones that the singer mentions in his song. The song
mostly talks about how and why people turn bad in the ghetto. He explains that
there is no other way than to go bad because there is no help from the
government. Examples he mentions in the song are the poor education system and
minimum wage not being good enough to hold a family with. These problems are
always being discussed and protested about, especially minimum wage which most
of the time isn’t enough for one family.
Song: "Harlem Streets" by Immortal Technique
(Back-up link to video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWAyux_yvng
Lyrics:
[Verse
1]
Yeah.... Harlem streets stay flooded in white powder
Like those mother f**** runnin' away from the twin towers
Gun shots rock the earth like a meteor shower
Bowling For Columbine, fair, giving the media power
Innocence devoured like a chicken spot snack box
Government cocain cooked into ghetto crack rock
Corrupt cops false testimony at your arraignment
Check to check, constant struggle to make the payments
Working your whole life wondering where the day went
The subway stays packed like a multi-cultural slave ship
It's rush hour, 2:30 to 8, non stoppin'
And people coming home after corporate share croppin
And f*** flossin, mothers are trying to feed children
But gentrification is kicking them out of their building
A generation of babies born without health care
Families homeless, thrown the f*** off of the welfare
[Hook]
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
[Verse 2]
It's like Cambodia the killing fields uptown
We live in distress and hang the flag upside down
The sound of conservative politicians on television
People in the hood are blind so they tell us to listen
They vote for us to go to war instantly
But none of their kids serving the infantry
The odds are stacked against us like a casino
Think about it, most of the army is black and latino
And if you can't acknowledge the reality of my words
You just another stupid mother f***** out on the curb
Trying to escape from the ghetto with your ignorant ways
But you can't read history at an illiterate stage
And you can't raise a family on minimum wage
Why the f*** you think most of us are locked in a cage
I give n****s the truth, cause they pride is indigent
You better off rich and guilty than poor and innocent
But I'm sick of feeling impotent watching the world burn
In the era of apocalypse waiting my turn
I'm a Harlem n**** that's concerned with the future
And if you’re in my way it'd be an honor to shoot ya
Up root ya with the evil that grows in my people
Making them deceitful, cannibalistic and lethal
But I see through the mentality implanted in us
And I educate my fam about who we should trust
[Hook]
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
(lyrics link): http://www.lyrics007.com/Immortal%20Technique%20Lyrics/Harlem%20Streets%20Lyrics.htmlYeah.... Harlem streets stay flooded in white powder
Like those mother f**** runnin' away from the twin towers
Gun shots rock the earth like a meteor shower
Bowling For Columbine, fair, giving the media power
Innocence devoured like a chicken spot snack box
Government cocain cooked into ghetto crack rock
Corrupt cops false testimony at your arraignment
Check to check, constant struggle to make the payments
Working your whole life wondering where the day went
The subway stays packed like a multi-cultural slave ship
It's rush hour, 2:30 to 8, non stoppin'
And people coming home after corporate share croppin
And f*** flossin, mothers are trying to feed children
But gentrification is kicking them out of their building
A generation of babies born without health care
Families homeless, thrown the f*** off of the welfare
[Hook]
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
[Verse 2]
It's like Cambodia the killing fields uptown
We live in distress and hang the flag upside down
The sound of conservative politicians on television
People in the hood are blind so they tell us to listen
They vote for us to go to war instantly
But none of their kids serving the infantry
The odds are stacked against us like a casino
Think about it, most of the army is black and latino
And if you can't acknowledge the reality of my words
You just another stupid mother f***** out on the curb
Trying to escape from the ghetto with your ignorant ways
But you can't read history at an illiterate stage
And you can't raise a family on minimum wage
Why the f*** you think most of us are locked in a cage
I give n****s the truth, cause they pride is indigent
You better off rich and guilty than poor and innocent
But I'm sick of feeling impotent watching the world burn
In the era of apocalypse waiting my turn
I'm a Harlem n**** that's concerned with the future
And if you’re in my way it'd be an honor to shoot ya
Up root ya with the evil that grows in my people
Making them deceitful, cannibalistic and lethal
But I see through the mentality implanted in us
And I educate my fam about who we should trust
[Hook]
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
Homicide Harldem, BLAOW!, what's the problem?
